LorenFL
Well-known member
Bought myself an Eastrock Concert uke for my birthday back at he beginning of September. Yeah, I know, it's not a "real uke"... maybe someday I'll make that leap. For now, I settle for "above average cheap instruments" knowing that a crappy player isn't going to sound any better on a $1,000 instrument.
I immediately strung it for Low G, and played around with a couple different string sets. The last time I had the strings off, I did some intonation adjustment. It was significantly sharp on all strings in the first two frets, and the action was way high. So, I filed down the nut slots a little bit, and shaved the saddle.
That improved things quite a bit, but it still wasn't perfect. I let it ride for a while, mostly because I'm lazy.
The other problem with this uke is that the frets are rough. I thought it was the strings at first, but changing the strings made no difference. Bending notes would make the string grab and pop as it moved across the fret rather than smoothly sliding. Eventually, I thought to drag my fingernail across the frets... sure enough, the frets are obviously a little rough.
Today was the day! I did an intonation check to decide what I needed to do there, and I dug some #0000 steel wool out of the garage.
Deepened the slots on all but my A string, it was already pretty good. Shaved a bit more off of the saddle. Then set to work on the fretboard. I'm too lazy to tape it all off, and figure I was using super-fine steel wool that should have no negative effects on the fretboard wood, so I just went to polishing. Mostly focusing on the frets, but also putting at least an even texture on the fretboard itself.
Then, I strung it back up. Same strings, so they shouldn't need to stretch... but, I'm finding that it does take a little time for all the knots and peg wraps to settle in!
Intonation is nearly perfect on all but the E string. It's still a little sharp on the first couple frets. I could maybe lower the action a tiny bit more, too. But, it's pretty darned accurate all the way down to the 12th fret as long as I'm not putting a death grip on the string. Even the E string is within about +10.
Smooth frets make for slick bending and vibrato, too!
$40 uke plus a little bit of setup = not too bad!
I immediately strung it for Low G, and played around with a couple different string sets. The last time I had the strings off, I did some intonation adjustment. It was significantly sharp on all strings in the first two frets, and the action was way high. So, I filed down the nut slots a little bit, and shaved the saddle.
That improved things quite a bit, but it still wasn't perfect. I let it ride for a while, mostly because I'm lazy.
The other problem with this uke is that the frets are rough. I thought it was the strings at first, but changing the strings made no difference. Bending notes would make the string grab and pop as it moved across the fret rather than smoothly sliding. Eventually, I thought to drag my fingernail across the frets... sure enough, the frets are obviously a little rough.
Today was the day! I did an intonation check to decide what I needed to do there, and I dug some #0000 steel wool out of the garage.
Deepened the slots on all but my A string, it was already pretty good. Shaved a bit more off of the saddle. Then set to work on the fretboard. I'm too lazy to tape it all off, and figure I was using super-fine steel wool that should have no negative effects on the fretboard wood, so I just went to polishing. Mostly focusing on the frets, but also putting at least an even texture on the fretboard itself.
Then, I strung it back up. Same strings, so they shouldn't need to stretch... but, I'm finding that it does take a little time for all the knots and peg wraps to settle in!
Intonation is nearly perfect on all but the E string. It's still a little sharp on the first couple frets. I could maybe lower the action a tiny bit more, too. But, it's pretty darned accurate all the way down to the 12th fret as long as I'm not putting a death grip on the string. Even the E string is within about +10.
Smooth frets make for slick bending and vibrato, too!
$40 uke plus a little bit of setup = not too bad!
